Ezra 2:30 — Word Study
WLCבְּנֵ֣י מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ מֵאָ֖ה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃ ס
BSAthe descendantsbên [sons, children, or posterity] of MagbishMagbîysh△ [a leader of a family, congregating] 156mêʼâh
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵ֣י | [the] descendants of | Noun common, masculine plural construct |
| מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ | Magbish | Noun proper |
| מֵאָ֖ה | one hundred | Adj |
| חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים | fifty | |
| וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃ ס | and six | Conjunction |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | the descendants of Magbish, 156; |
| KJV | The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and six. |
| ASV | The children of Magbish, a hundred fifty and six. |
| YLT | Sons of Magbish, a hundred fifty and six. |
| WEB | The children of Magbish, one hundred fifty-six. |
| BBE | The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six. |
Where they part company is מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ — see How Translations Differ.
The structure is straightforward, with a main clause identifying the descendants followed by a numeral indicating their count.
2 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 5 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Ezra 2:30
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Return of the Exilesgenerated
Ezra 2:30 lists the descendants of Magbish, indicating their role in the community of returning exiles. This census serves to document the families involved in the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian captivity, emphasizing the importance of lineage and community in the rebuilding process.
Cross References
The Key Word — בֵּן, be.Neigenerated
The word בֵּן (ben) means 'son' or 'descendant' and encompasses a wide range of meanings, including children, grandchildren, or even figurative uses like members of a tribe. This word is often used in genealogies to establish family ties and inheritance, as seen throughout the Old Testament.
In this verse, it signifies the descendants of Magbish, highlighting their lineage and connection to the larger community of Israel. The parsing as a masculine plural construct indicates that it refers to multiple descendants.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main clause is centered around the subject בְּנֵי, the descendants, followed by the predicate מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ, of Magbish, and concludes with the numeral phrase indicating the count of 156. The structure emphasizes the identity and number of the descendants.
The sentence follows a straightforward format, presenting the subject, the family name, and the numerical value, which is typical in genealogical listings.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, בְּנֵי is rendered as υἱοὶ (huioi), meaning 'sons' or 'children.' This choice aligns closely with the Hebrew meaning, maintaining the familial connection.
The name מַגְבִּישׁ is translated as μαγεβως, which preserves the reference to the leader of a family, indicating continuity in the understanding of this figure across the texts.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Ezra 2:30 lists the descendants of Magbish, showing that there were 156 individuals in this family group. This record is part of the larger effort to document the people returning from exile in Babylon, emphasizing their importance in rebuilding the community.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Magbish was a leader of a family among the returning exiles from Babylon, and his descendants are noted for their number in this census.
The number of descendants reflects the size and strength of the family, which contributes to the overall restoration of the community after exile.
This verse highlights the importance of family lineage and community ties in Israel, especially during the process of returning from exile and rebuilding.
This verse is part of a larger genealogical record in Ezra, which documents the families returning to Jerusalem and their roles in the restoration of the nation.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can I learn about the importance of family and community from this verse?
- How does understanding lineage help us appreciate the history of Israel?
- In what ways can I contribute to my own community, similar to the families returning from exile?
- Why do you think genealogies are significant in the biblical narrative?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Ezra 2:30 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThe children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and six. The children of Magbish - (gathering) [Septuagint, Magebis]. Most probably the name of a place, though some regard it as that of a man.
Read Robert Jamieson on Ezra 2 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges30. Magbish] The name of this place is omitted in the parallel passages and does not occur elsewhere. Presumably another town in the territory of Benjamin.
Read Cambridge on Ezra 2 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
the descendants of Magbish, 156;
The children of Magbish, one hundred fifty-six.
the descendants of Magbish, 156;
the descendants of Magbish: 156;
Tyndale line
The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and six.
The children of Magbish, a hundred fifty and six.
The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and six.
The children of Magbish, a hundred fifty and six.
The sonnes of Magbish, an hundreth and sixe and fiftie:
Strictly literal
The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six.
Sons of Magbish, a hundred fifty and six.
sons of Magbish, one hundred fifty-six;
The children of Magbish, one hundred fifty and six.
The men of Magbish: 156.
From the Latin
The children of Megbis, a hundred fifty-six.
Simplified
the sons of Magbish, 156;
The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text records the descendants of Magbish as numbering 156, stated as 'בְּנֵ֣י מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ מֵאָ֖ה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃ ס'. The Septuagint, while it matches four out of five words from the Hebrew, does not provide a direct translation for comparison, so we cannot determine if it agrees or differs in the specific number. There are no surviving readings from the Samaritan Pentateuch or the Dead Sea Scrolls for this verse, leaving the Masoretic Text as the primary witness for the count of 156 descendants.
בְּנֵ֣י מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ מֵאָ֖ה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃ ס
4 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Ezra 2:30
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
בֵּן (ben) means 'son' or 'male child' and encompasses a wide range of meanings, including descendants, young animals, and even figurative uses like sparks or arrows. It can refer to members of a tribe or class and is used in various contexts throughout the Old Testament, such as in 1 Chronicles 24:26. The word is derived from a root meaning 'to build' and implies a connection to family or lineage.
בֵּן 4870 n.m. son
son, male child, born of a woman
children (male and female)
youth, young men
the young of animals
of plant shoots
fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows
member of a guild, order or class
of animals son of (the) herd
ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.
n. relat. of age
base
בְּנוֹ 1 Ch 24:26, 27 as n.pr.m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son, cf. VB & Be Öt.
done
H1121a בֵּן son . son, male child, born of a woman
. children (male and female)
. youth, young men
. the young of animals
. of plant shoots
. fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows
. . member of a guild, order or class
. of animals son of (the) herd
. ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.
. n. relat. of age
H1121b בְּנוֹ as n. pr. m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son
1121 ben bane
from 1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the
widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship,
including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition,
etc., (like 1, 251, etc.)):--+ afflicted, age, (Ahoh-)
(Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-)ite, (anoint-)ed one, appointed to,
(+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-)ian, one born,
bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X
came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of
first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, +
kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+)
people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, +
spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous
one, + valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.
see HEBREW for 01129
see HEBREW for 01
see HEBREW for 0251
בֵּן (ben) — son: child.
: child/son
בְּנוֹ (be.no) — Beno.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.24.26;
son of: Jaaziah (H3269);
brother of: Shoham (H7719), Zaccur (H2139I) and Ibri (H5681)
§ Beno = "his son"
the sons of Jaaziah and the sons of Merari by Jaahziah (his son)
בֵּן (ben) — son: descendant/people.
: descendant, people, tribe, nation
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
§ : child/son
בֵּן (ben) — son: young animal.
: calf/lamb/young(ANIMAL)
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
§ : descendant
בֵּן (ben) — son: type of.
: rebel/son(Belial)
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
§ : people/men/nation/tribe
בֵּן (ben) — son.
: [inheriting]son/heir
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
בֵּן (ben) — son: warrior.
: warrior/son(strong)
N-mp — Noun common · masculine plural constructHNcmpc
ov:
(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.
OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]
1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.
For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.
Lamentations 3:1.
The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.
Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.
That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.
Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…
מַגְבִּישׁ (Magbiysh) refers to a proper noun, specifically a family of returning exiles. It is derived from a root meaning 'stiffening.' The entries indicate it may also refer to a place in Palestine. There is no significant disagreement among the lexicons regarding its meaning.
מַגְבִּישׁ n.pr.m. a family of returning exiles
base
H4019 מַגְבִּישׁ
4019 Magbiysh mag-beesh'
from the same as 1378; stiffening; Magbish, an Israelite, or
a place in Palestine:--Magbish.
see HEBREW for 01378
מַגְבִּישׁ (mag.bish) — Magbish.
§ Magbish = "congregating"
head of a family of returning exiles
N-proper — Noun properHNpl
mag'-bish (maghbish; Septuagint: Codex Vaticanus Magebos; Codex Alexandrinus Maabeis): An unidentified town in Benjamin, 156 of the inhabitants of which are said to have returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:30). It does not appear in Nehemiah's list (Ne 7:33). Septuagint (Codex Vaticanus), however, has Magebos. The name is probably identical with Magpiash, "one who sealed the covenant" (Ne 10:20).
excelling; height
מֵאָה (me'ah) means 'hundred' in Hebrew. It can refer to a simple number, a component of a larger number, or a fraction representing one one-hundredth. The entries consistently describe its use as a numeral without significant disagreement.
מֵאָה 583 n.f. hundred
as simple number
as part of larger number
a hundredth part
base
H3967 מֵאָה hundred . as simple number
. as part of larger number
. a hundredth part
3967 me'ah may-aw'
or metyah {may-yaw'}; properly, a primitive numeral; a
hundred; also as a multiplicative and a
fraction:--hundred((-fold), -th), + sixscore.
מֵאָה (me.ah) — hundred.
1) hundred
1a) as simple number
1b) as part of larger number
1c) as a fraction-one one-hundredth (1/100)
Aramaic equivalent: me.ah (מְאָה "hundred" H3969)
Adj — AdjHAcfsa
hun'-dred (me'-ah; hekaton).
See NUMBER.
חֲמִשִּׁים (chamishshiym) means 'fifty' and is a cardinal number. It can also refer to a multiple of fifty or the ordinal number 'fiftieth.' The entries consistently define it as a numerical term without significant variation.
חֲמִשִּׁים 164 n.pl. (a) fifty
base
H2572 חֲמִשִּׁים (a) fifty
2572 chamishshiym kham-ish-sheem'
multiple of 2568; fifty:--fifty.
see HEBREW for 02568
חֲמִשִּׁים (cha.mish.shim) — fifty.
1) fifty
1a) fifty (cardinal number)
1b) a multiple of fifty (with other numbers)
1c) fiftieth (ordinal number)
HAcmpa — HAcmpa
The Hebrew word שֵׁשׁ, transliterated as shesh, means 'six' and can function as both a cardinal and ordinal number, indicating the sixth position. It is a primitive number that signifies an excess beyond five, as noted in the entries. The Aramaic equivalent is שֵׁת (shet).
שֵׁשׁ, שִׁשָּׁה 216 n.m. et f. six
base
H8337 שֵׁשׁ, שִׁשָּׁה six
8337 shesh shaysh
masculine shishshah {shish-shaw'}; a primitive number; six
(as an overplus (see 7797) beyond five or the fingers of the
hand); as ord. sixth:--six((-teen, -teenth)), sixth.
see HEBREW for 07797
שֵׁשׁ (shesh) — six.
1) six
1a) six (cardinal number)
1b) sixth (ordinal number)
1c) in combination with other numbers
Aramaic equivalent: shet (שֵׁת "six" H8353)
HC/Acbsa — ConjunctionHC/Acbsa